24: ''Day 8: 4:00 PM-6:00 PM''Review

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Jack heads to NYC in the series' eighth season premiere.

By Brian Zoromski

Advance Review:Jack Bauer's had some truly rough days. As detailed in our Jack Bauer's Worst Hours feature, over the past seven seasons Jack has lost his wife and numerous colleagues, been tortured by various nefarious organizations and countries, and has not only been exposed to a lethal bioweapon but has died twice (once for real, the other for show). So as the eighth season begins, it's completely understandable to find Jack not wanting to get back into the save-the-world business again and truly happy to spend time with his family. Yes, that's right, I said happy. A smiling Jack Bauer can be seen the first half of the two-hour season premiere, spending time with his three-year-old granddaughter Teri. It's the most at-peace and relaxed 24 fans have seen Jack since... well, pretty much ever.

The eighth season premiere, like most 24 premieres before it, is a whole lot of set-up. There's the hook to draw Jack into the day's events, the introduction of the new bad guys, potentially shady characters, and good guys, as well as the reveal of the threat/big event that everyone will be chasing (for at least the first part of the season). None of the reveals are particularly surprising, and all of the characters' motives and agendas seem pretty blatantly telegraphed and predictable.

The fact that 24's main star is now a grandfather who just wants to be with his family makes Jack Bauer an even more reluctant hero than he's been in the past. So now not only does Jack need to get involved in a major event but he needs to be convinced that his involvement is even necessary, which this time takes more than just being shot at. The situation has the feel of a Lethal Weapon sequel, as Jack has to be convinced to take on one last big job before he retires. The phrase "I'm getting too old for this..." doesn't pop up, but Jack, while staring at the fancy new CTU NY headquarters, does mutter, "I hate this place." Fans can take solace in the fact that even though Jack would rather relax on the couch with his grandkid, he hasn't lost his ability to scream at suspects, dodge gunshots, cajole info out of informants and deal out fatal finishing blows.

Click above to watch a behind-the-scenes featurette for 24: Season 8

A few familiar faces show up in the start of this season; aside from Jack and his granddaughter Teri, Kim Bauer and her husband Stephen appear, saving Jack from having to tow along a toddler in the midst of a gunfight. And the sole person we know from past seasons in the new CTU office is Chloe O'Brian, who in a change of pace is behind the times technologically and not the know-it-all of the department. On the White House side of things, President Allison Taylor is still in charge, and former Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin returns, this time as Secretary of State.

With so few returning characters, the majority of these first two hours is spent introducing us to quite a few new people. The character who initially gets Jack pulled into the big "threat of the day" is played by Benito Martinez (The Shield's David Aceveda), who we're told was an informant for Jack during the CTU's Salazar op. There's a reporter with a secret named Margaret Reed (Jennifer Westfeldt), the new Chief of Staff Rob Weiss (Chris Diamantopoulos), the New York CTU Director Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson, The Final Destination), and Kamistan president Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor, Slumdog Millionaire), among others. The biggest names added to the cast of course get a bit more screen time: Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff appears as CTU analyst Dana Walsh, and Freddie Prinze Jr. is Dana's finac&#Array;, Cole Ortiz. We find out an interesting back story for Dana that could have some legs, while Cole gets some screen time with Jack and also butts heads with his boss, Hastings.

Overall, the first hour is the stronger of the two, with a good pace and a couple very well done action sequences. The second hour drags a bit, building up more characters and pushing to make Jack more central to the overall story. There's nothing here that's particularly frustrating or annoying, but a little more unpredictability would be welcome. While there are some curveballs thrown, for any veteran 24 fan -- or fan of the action genre in general -- you can pretty much see everything coming. Hopefully the surprises and uneven pace will pick up a bit in the second night of the two-night premiere.

24: ''Day 8: 4:00 PM-6:00 PM'' premieres Sunday, January 17, from 9pm to 11pm ET/PT on FOX. 24 returns the following night for another two hours, from 8pm to 10pm ET/PT, Monday, January 18.